The Dude:Just take it easy man. Walter Sobchak: I'm perfectly calm Dude. The Dude: [shouting] Yeah, waving the ****ing gun around? Walter Sobchak: Calmer than you are. The Dude: Will you just take it easy? Walter Sobchak: Calmer than you are.
Not hard to figure out. Francis knows how to play. He was a bona fide All-Star not all that long ago. You don't just lose your skills just like that unless you become Vin Baker or have a severe injury. Francis hasn't had a serious injury and he doens't have a drinking problem. He came in a little out of shape but he's nearly back to normal. Keep playing him. He'll produce his customary 20 6 6 numbers.
Was gonna rag on the poster claiming people give Francis too much credit, but this is where he's proven right... Francis CAN BE and so far IS a solid contributor to this team. The former 20 points per game guy he is NOT. But again, this team doesnt even need All-Star contribution from him. Just for him to offer another decent scoring option and put pressure on the opponent's all thats needed...And Francis himself says this
I hope see Francis contributing 15-20pts per game as the other players like Battier, Hayes, Bonzi and even Scola at times contributed a single digit pts only.
Still think Francis can bring it. He maybe a step slower but Michael Jordan found other ways to score as he declined. That's what cagey battle tested veterans do. Find other ways to contribute, score or help the team out. Grant Hill is no longer the player he was but he's still a great contributor on a Phoenix team. That being said, the most important statistic is the minutes a player gets. If Francis gets his minutes, I see him being able to score at a high rate like he did in his final four games at New York.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SlZA4vrUmWE&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SlZA4vrUmWE&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> He only has a 41" vert now.
Exactly, I notice everytime when Francis is on, Rockets will have a little run, Come'n 3 all star player is scary!
I can definitely see steve contributing about 17-20 points a game. It seems like he is dying to prove his value and even with the phoenix game where he showed he still has something left it seems like now he wants to prove he is still an all star talent. The thing that bothers me is that he hits the ground hard often and i hope he finds a way to stop doing this. At first i thought he was doing this to show he was giving his all but now it seems to be a reoccuring thing. If he starts to get injury often then there is no point. With steve i think we would have at least had a better chance against those WARRIORS (that name is so fitting for that team LOVE THEM 2nd favorite team) and we would have wiped the floor with the kings.
Steve can still score gangbusters and it looks like he can leap....the thing is it does look like he's making a concerted effort to play team ball. He has been keeping his turnovers down (sometimes to 0) and has been getting teammates good looks. He looked really good on the pick and roll because opponents respect his offense. He would draw a lot of attention and get his teammates easy shots. I think the offense is a lot more dangerous when you have Yao, Tmac and Francis. All of them are tough to guard one on one and can get to the rim.
